Operation Write Home: Be My Valentine

As the daughter of a veteran (Navy), the brave men and women serving our beloved country are near & dear to my heart. Politics and policy may change, but their courage and dedication are constant, and so is my gratitude. Operation Write Home is kicking off their Valentine's Day card drive, and I couldn't think of a better way to express my heartfelt appreciation than to participate in this hop (and of course, donate some cards). So, without further ado:

Welcome to:
OPERATION WRITE HOME'S
"BE MY VALENTINE" HOP!

I'm sure many of you are scratching your heads. It's one thing to be in mid-November, before Thanksgiving, and posting Christmas cards, but Valentine's?!?!? That's months away, right? Well, yes. But the deadline for donating your handcrafter Christmas cards to Operation Write Home has passed. And the deadline for Valentine's Day is January 7th, which will be here before we know it, especially with all of the Christmas and New Year's activities and excitement.

If I'm your first stop, please get started at OWH Stars and Stamps and you'll be on the right trail. If you are arriving from Lisa at Land of EnCRAFTment, then you are right on track! (And let me say a great big THANK YOU! for staying with us - I know the hop is big and quite a long journey!)

For my card I used the adorable Wild Sprout Stella from The Greeting Farm. She was so much fun to color, I can't wait to make more. I paired her with some fab Valentine papers that were given to me as a gift (sorry, I don't know the manufacturer), a crocheted heart (A Million Memories), a heart charm (LSS), some twine, and paper flowers. I used my oval classic & scallop nesties for her mat and Labels Four for the sentiment mat. The sentiment was created with Making Memories Boho Alphabet Stickers. The touches of distress inking are done in Tim Holtz Spun Sugar Distress Ink. The layout is today's Saturday Sketch at Club Anya, and was designed by the lovely Jen Shults.

As a special THANK YOU for joining us today (and as a reward for your stamina), I've got some blog candy to give away: For a chance to win, please leave a comment on this post, and be sure I have a way to contact you (either through your blog link or by leaving your email address). I will draw & announce a winner on Monday, Nov. 15th, when I will also be posting my Blog-A-Versary Blog Candy, which you will not want to miss!

Thank you. May God bless you & keep you. May God bless our heroes, and God Bless America!

Your next stop is Carole at Ramblings of a FibreJunky.

And don't forget, Valentine's Day cards are needed by January 7th. Visit Operation Write Home for more information. Happy crafting!

StampingBella 'Love Me Do' Blog Hop

"Love, love me do. You know I love you. I'll always be true. So please, please, please...love me do. Ooh oh. Love me do." Am I the only one who hears her father singing instead of the Beatles? My dear dad was infected with Beatle-mania years ago, and it was like watching a kid in a candy store when he opened up the entire Beatles anthology at Christmas, courtesy of my mom (and her *friends* at QVC!) LOL! I know, I know. My anecdotes are not why you're here..........

Welcome to the LOVE ME DO Blog Hop sponsored by Stamping Bella! If you've just happened upon my blog, you can start from the beginning at Bloggabella. If you are hopping along and arrived here from Mary's blog, you are on the right track!

When I saw that Stamping Bella was hosting this blog hop, I immediately thought of this image - Jugglabella! I think my favorite thing about Valentine's Day is that in addition to reminding us to make sure that we tell those close to us just how much we care, it gives us an opportunity to pause and reflect on just how much love we are blessed with. We have to keep a lot of balls in the air, but love is the ball we have to be most certain of not dropping.

In addition to the fabulous eye candy, Stamping Bella is hiding a prize somewhere along the hop! One blogger will draw a random winner from the comments on her post, and the winner will receive a $25 Gift Voucher to Stamping Bella!!! The fun part is...we're not telling you who it is! So as you hop, make sure you leave comments on every post so you have a chance to win!! The winner will be announced on Friday in the Stamping Bella Splitcoast forum. Thanks so much for stopping by! Now it's time to hop on over to the lovely & talented Carisa.

MWAH & Happy V-day,

Image(s): StampingBella - Jugglabella
Pattern Papers: Cosmo Cricket - Hey Sugar
Cardstock: local source
Embellishments: MFT buttons, PTI twine, Stickles, pearl dew drops, fibers
Colored with Copics
Layout: SC 251

Unity FWF: 'Wool' you be my valentine?

Hi peeps! It's Friday, and that means it's time for Unity Friends With Flair!

I can't tell you how tickled I was when I signed up for KOM in November and found 'Love Ewe' tucked in with my kit. Lambs (lamby-kins) are a thing for me and my mom, and I knew right away I would use this cute little pair on a card for her.

The card is fairly simple, but I didn't want to overwhelm the sweet image or the embossed & shimmery PP from My Mind's Eye. I added texture by running my scalloped circle through the swirls CB folder to echo the sheeps' wooly curls, and used two shades of pink pigment ink to distress the sentiment penant.

Hope you are enjoying the FWF hop! All the participants are listed on the fabulous Unity blog. And when you're done with FWF, head over to the {ippity} blog - sneak peeks of the new release started yesterday!


Valentine Hugs,


Image(s): Unity Stamp Co. - Love Ewe
Pattern Papers: My Mind's Eye
Cardstock: local source
Embellishments: MFT button
Colored with Copics

FWF Redo

Does anyone do this? Make a card, and then sit and mentally edit? Something about my FWF card was bugging me. The light wasn't right and in editting the photo, the colors were just not reading true. And the buttons. Definitely not giving me the warm fuzzies that button usually do. So, what's a secretly anal retentive girl to do? Carefully pry off the heart and buttons, do it over and reshoot! LOL!


With that out of the way, and after some much needed organizing (there's still tons more - does it ever end????), I hope to have my January KitCat card posted tomorrow.


Snowy Hugs,

Woohoo for Friday & FWF!

TGIF! It's been an up & down week with my now annual sinus/ear issues. Something about this time of year. But I'm on an upswing now, and ready to ring in the weekend with some Unity fabulousness! Of course, I am drooling over the February KOM and counting down to the 15th when they will start shipping. But in the meantime, I wanted to revisit two fave Unity stamps that I thought were perfect for this time of year. We are expecting some serious snow here and V-Day is just around the corner, so what could be better than a snowman valentine, eh?

Be sure to hit the Unity Blog to get the entire list of Friends With Flair participants!
Happy hopping & warm winter wishes,

PS - I just couldn't resist coloring the bird. A little "blue bird of happiness" moment. ;)
Image(s): Unity Stamp Co. - Snow-one Like You, So-and-So Loves
Pattern Papers: Cosmo Cricket - Hey Sugar
Cardstock: MFT Perfect Panels - cream; Bazzill Basics - Hazel; kraft (local source)
Embellishments: MFT buttons - Chocolate Kiss; PTI twine
Colored with Copics
Inks: Unity/Palette Hybrid - Moulin Rouge; Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Walnut Stain, Antique Linen

Unity Stamps Friday

Welcome to another Unity Friends With Flair Friday!

I have been waiting, very impatiently, for my January KOM to arrive. Imagine my excitement to find it waiting for me after work last night - just in time for today's FWF! Woohooo!!!!!! It was an extra wonderful mail day because I also received a package from Jacksonbelle that contained some 12x12 from October Afternoon! Of course I couldn't resist putting them both to use right away!


There's just something about Unity Stamps and kraft cardstock - a match made in heaven. I used it as the card base and for the main image so that I could really put the emphasis on the heart and the sprout, both of which I stamped on white CS and colored with Copics, then cut and pieced. (I'll replace the photo with a better one later today since this one came out a bit blurry.)

Hope you are enjoying all of today's wonderful FWF creations! Don't forget to leave comments all along the way and be on the lookout for the Prize Blinkie! The complete list of participants can be found on the Unity Blog. And don't forget, it's not too late to join the KOM Club! The stamps are beyond fabulous and the perks are wonderful!

Hoppy Hugs,


Image(s): KOMJan10 - Savor the Journey
Pattern Papers: October Afternoon - Hometown Collection
Cardstock: local source
Embellishments: Making Memories turquoise velvet ribbon
Colored with Copics
Ink(s): Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen
Layout: Splitcoast SC259